Recent years have shown a proliferation in the number of users who carry mobile computing devices (e.g., smartphones and tablets). Typically, users migrate to various locations throughout the day, and, as a result, clusters of handled computing devices tend to continually form and disintegrate. In general, the location of each cluster is static in nature—e.g., a cluster of mobile computing devices will typically exist during business hours for a coffee shop that provides WIFI. This cluster will grow and shrink in size throughout the day so long as patrons continue to visit the coffee shop. Notably, in more recent times, the locations of clusters have also become dynamic in nature, e.g., a cluster of mobile computing devices can form during a commercial airline flight that provides WIFI. In any event, a cluster represents a localized group of mobile computing devices that are continually attempting to achieve a common goal of providing useful features through different types of connectivity (e.g., WIFI, Global Positioning System (GPS), and cellular network connectivity).
Presently, mobile computing devices work in isolation to establish the aforementioned types of connectivity. Consider, for example, a user who visits an airport whose main WIFI network is not presently known to the user's mobile computing device. In this example, the mobile computing device will individually carry out a WIFI scan to identify all WIFI networks in range. Notably, these WIFI scans consume a considerable amount of energy and time, which is wasteful considering the WIFI scans often involve negotiating with WIFI networks that are password-protected and/or will not provide reliable connectivity. This not only degrades battery performance, but also imposes the user with the tedious task of experimenting with different WIFI networks in attempt to achieve connectivity. This is especially unfortunate considering there is likely at least one nearby mobile computing device that has already performed the heavy lifting involved in identifying and connecting to a reliable WIFI network.